Monday

Monday morning. I’m still trying to taper down on the prednisone – at 10 mg now. My ankles feel a little better, surprisingly. I hope this isn’t just a fluke. Too many pills; no wonder I always feel like throwing up in the morning. I suppose I should try to spread out taking them but then I’d probably forget. I’ve started taking plaquenil again too. I had kind of “decided” on my own to stop taking it. Well, it was mostly laziness and forgetfulness that decided for me. I’m determined to get these ankles better so I can take a trip in June. If that means choking down all of these pills then I’ll do it.

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13 thoughts on “Monday”

Uhm, why stop the plaquenil? I’m a newbie to RA, but I LIKE not feeling like a cat’s chew toy in the AM. And when I’ve goofed on medication, I feel like I have the world’s WORST hangover (sick to my stomach, achy, brain fogged, I dropped stuff, etc). When I’m “compliant” with what the rheumy is ordered, I tend to have pretty good days.

Okay, but my rheumy explained to me that I’m a medical “house of cards.” The goal is to get everything rock solid stable. Then and only then can I think about reducing doses of SOME medications. So, yeah, my mornings are kinda amazing with the pill routine (as is dinner time), but if I can avoid or minimize joint origami, I’ll deal.

Then again, RA is all over my mom’s family–and I saw enough from the bad old days (before the late 1980s) to be terrified into compliance–which isn’t too optimal either.

Anyway, I’m sorry you feel like crap and here’s hoping you feel much improved SOON!

Well you should listen to your rheumatologist, of course. In this blog, I am not telling anybody what they should or shouldn’t do regarding taking medications or anything else. I’m just writing about my own personal experiences living with RA for the last 14 years.

I was always astounded at the number of pills I use to take until allergies kicked most of them out. I can so relate. Keeping my hopes up that your preg. taper works well for you! Patience is a virtue :-) Slow and steady wins that race.

I hear what you’re saying about the pills — the volume, nausea, organization. I found a pill organizer with big sections, and you can pop out each day. I take what I can before I eat, then bring them with me to take the rest after a muffin or oatmeal settles a little. It helps my frame of mind the most -of no dealing with all those bottles and trying to remember what I took and when. I also don’t have to take the grandma. organizer, just one for that day

I hear you on choking down all the pills. I’m so tired of taking pills it is not funny. Sometime I wonder, if I take this many pills in my 30’s, how many am I going to have to take when I’m 60? It’s really unfair!!!

Thanks for your comment! You’re right – it is unfair. I’m also really tired of taking all of these pills every day. And I worry about what condition I’ll be in when I get older. I’m kind of a hypochondriac anyway, so I’m constantly telling myself to try to only worry about today – the future will figure itself out. It’s frustrating and scary though, I know.

Very good advise Angela! I try not to worry about the futur too much but it always just pops in my head. I’d be a much happier person if I could just focus on now. Maybe one day I’ll learn the trick to living in the moment!

I just found your posts from another link..found it very interesting that we have ( had) very similar ra symptoms. I got tired of the endless doctors apps, medications and changes to meds. Plus the side effects. One day I just said enough! Decided to go off my meds used aleve daily …I know…i changed my diet completely, researched inflammatory foods…by the way it’s not a coincidence that your ankles felt better after cutting caffeine and soda is loaded with sodium, stay away from salt and get rid of sugars as much as u can from your diet..the results are amazing. I joined a boot camp…was really hard at first but within a month I was feeling fabulous. I told myself doing what i could was better than doing nothing at all! Now 6 months later I am fit, lost 15 Lbs. ankles look great..no more Kankles…well most days anyway….i can actually tell that my foot is attached to a leg vs. a tree trunk! I am not sleeping entire days away from the exhaustion and Headaches virtually gone. I only take aleve about 2 or 3 times a month for minor flares. Just recently stopped drinking milk, this has helped as well..replaced with silk almond milk no sugar added. Not sure how long it will last or what damage not taking meds is doing, some might say I’m crazy but it’s working now and I just take everyday one day at a time with no false hopes of this being the permanent solution. It’s just the meds scare the crap out of me. Making my annual check up soon curious to see how my blood work comes back its been almost a year.

I just found this message board(?) and having read a few of the older posts, I can say I’m totally with you on Prednisone. It does work but my experience is that the relief doesn’t last. I knw weight gain can be an issue, and fortunately my rheumatologist is a woman and she doesn’t look at me strangely when I say I don’t want to be on it because I don’t want get fat. I’m on Remicade and Sulfasalazine only – methotrexate made me throw up and Plaquenil was useless. One thing I will mention, in case anyone sees this, is that if you are going to go on Remicade, which is great, get a Shingles vaccine first if you had chicken pox earlier in life. About 6 months after I started Remicade, I got Shingles. It was THE worst experience of my life. Seven months later, I still have some residual nerve pain and am still on Neurontin (which should be named Morontin because it turns you into an idiot until you get used to it – but that’s a whole other story). I skipped a Remicade infusion some could get the vaccine, and my RA has sort of been punishing me ever since, but I think a lot of that might be due to stress from work, which has drastically increased the last few months.
I will also mention, and then shut up, that some dietary changes made a big difference as well. I don’t want to have large doses of medication if I can help it, so I am basically vegan and completely gluten free, and avoid anything from the nightshade family. This is boring but has helped. I also cut out red wine completely, and drink very little, which sucks, but if I do, it’s good champagne or nothing.